Women in Financial Services 2014

From Evolution to Revolution: The Time is Now

There have long been concerns about the lack of women at the senior levels in financial services. Many have suggested that the excessive risk taking and mistreatment of customers in the pre-2007 boom were caused by the overwhelming masculinity of the industry.

That’s not the whole story, of course. The crisis had many causes. And a lack of diversity has many consequences. But regardless, it remains clear that the sector is losing out in the ‘war for talent’.

In this report, we analyzed the gender mix of senior staff at over 150 firms internationally and surveyed over 1,000 current and potential financial services employees from five countries. We have interviewed many senior women (and a few men!) from across the sector. Please click on the arrows below to read quotes from some of our interviewees.

We have been surprised by some of the results, and our conviction that financial firms, and we, must do more to support women has only increased.

Shauneen
Bruder

"Our growth is predicated on understanding diverse markets. Diversity is not just the right thing to do from a values perspective, it’s also good business. It helps us to understand those segments of the population…anticipate their needs and better deliver to them"

Colleen
Campbell

Vice Chair, Bank of Montreal

Helen
Crofts

Chair, The Women's-Insurance-Net-Work

"Boosting awareness and participation at the top end would ideally have a knock on effect through the executive and management levels, but unfortunately we don't see much evidence of this at the moment."

Angela
Darlington

CRO, Aviva Life UK

"Female mentors do appear to have a larger number of people to mentor than the average senior man. It becomes a numbers game as female mentors are so few but it is also a great opportunity to make a real difference to our talent pipeline."

Chief Operating Officer, Bank of England

Sue
Kean

Group Risk Officer, Old Mutual

"I think it is not a gender issue per se but due to the unconscious bias, we tend to be more comfortable mentoring and providing feedback to those who are like us, as opposed to actively going out looking for people with different skillsets"

Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and Founding Partner of Systemic Policy Partnership

Seraina
Maag

President and CEO of EMEA region, AIG

"I think technology will play a key part in the future workplace. Firms will need to figure out how to leverage technology to foster strong engagement and provide flexibility – in particular for women."

Group Head of Commercial and Private Banking Clients, Standard Chartered

Alison
Martin

Head of Life & Health Business Management, Swiss Re

"'Own the way you work' is a flexibility initiative not focused on gender but on the individual's need for flexibility, e.g. employees can pick up kids from school, work from home … The result of the new flexible working conditions can have a significant increase in productivity and quality"

Helena
Morrissey

CEO, Newton Asset Management and Founder of the 30% Club

Sarah
Pierce

Investment Director, Praesidian Capital and 2013 Winner of "Woman of the Future: Professional"

"If I take three years out of work and return three years behind an equally able peer who stayed for those three years, I can accept that as fair. But if I was to take three years off and return five years behind an equally able peer or with limited career progression, I doubt I would accept that"

Cecilia
Reyes

CIO, Zurich Insurance

"By having this flexibility we're able to retain and attract a diverse workforce. Some are skeptical; this is a cultural and mind set change. We need to improve the skills of managers to work with employees who are not necessarily physically in the office all the time"

Jennifer
Reynolds

President & CEO, Women in Capital Markets

"One of the most important things we can do is to help women see that there is an on-ramp back into the industry and support them when they take it. Bringing experienced women back to the industry is critical to building a pipeline for leadership roles"

Helen
Rose

COO, TSB

Chris
Sullivan

Deputy Group Chief Executive, RBS

"It's the classic example of men doing business down at the pub. Men meet with their suppliers, colleagues and business groups in certain places and times that are not always convenient for women. It's perfect for them since they've designed it for themselves but women get excluded"

Frédéric
Visnovsky

Deputy Secretary General, ACPR (French Banking Regulator)

"We have formalised the different options/stages of career paths, clearly stating the fact-based criteria for promotion. Hence, there is reduced subjectivity when assessing the performance of an individual"

Karen
Wilson

CEO, Hoggett Bowers

"Women in senior roles who take leave for maternity or other family care can cause resentment amongst peers. It's not easy to fill leadership roles in the interim and people have to work hard to cover for them. If both women and men were doing this then it would become a 'parent / carer thing' rather than a 'gender thing'"

Barbara
Yastine

CEO, Ally Bank

Jennifer
Barrow

Head of Corporate Responsibility, UK Financial Conduct Authority

"We’ve created a robust recruitment framework that mitigates against unconscious bias creeping into recruitment and promotion decisions. Unconscious Bias training is mandatory at the FCA and we must map out the competencies required for job roles and use standardized questions at interview stage"